Table 2.
Differences in Preventable Health Behaviors, Perceptions of COVID-19 Severity, and Likelihood of Getting a COVID-19 Vaccine if Available Between TM and MA Enrollees
| Outcome | Adjusted rates, % (95% CI) * | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| TM enrollees | MA enrollees | Differences among MA enrollees relative to TM enrollees | |
| Preventable health behaviors | |||
| Wash hands | 97.0 (96.2 to 97.7) | 97.1 (96.2 to 97.9) | 0.1 (−1.0 to 1.3) |
| Use sanitizer | 93.7 (92.6 to 94.7) | 94.2 (93.1 to 95.4) | 0.6 (−1.0 to 2.2) |
| Avoid touching face | 75.3 (73.5 to 77.2) | 73.5 (71.2 to 75.9) | −1.8 (−4.8 to 1.2) |
| Cough or sneeze into a tissue | 85.5 (83.8 to 87.1) | 87.3 (85.6 to 89.0) | 1.8 (−0.6 to 4.1) |
| Wore facemask | 98.6 (98.0 to 99.1) | 99.3 (98.9 to 99.7) | 0.8 (0.1 to 1.4) |
| Cleaned common areas | 75.5 (73.6 to 77.3) | 76.6 (74.4 to 78.8) | 1.2 (−1.7 to 4.0) |
| Avoid contact with sick people | 96.0 (95.2 to 96.9) | 96.9 (96.0 to 97.8) | 0.9 (−0.4 to 2.1) |
| Kept 6 feet distance | 94.8 (93.8 to 95.8) | 95.0 (93.9 to 96.2) | 0.2 (−1.3 to 1.7) |
| Avoid large groups of people | 93.1 (91.9 to 94.3) | 96.3 (95.3 to 97.2) | 3.1 (1.6 to 4.7) |
| Shelter in place | 74.7 (72.7 to 76.6) | 74.8 (72.4 to 77.1) | 0.1 (−2.9 to 3.2) |
| Buy extra food | 38.3 (36.1 to 40.6) | 37.4 (34.8 to 39.9) | −1.0 (−4.4 to 2.4) |
| Buy extra cleaning supplies | 59.4 (57.2 to 61.6) | 59.1 (56.5 to 61.8) | −0.3 (−3.7 to 3.2) |
| Buy extra medicines | 6.8 (5.5 to 8.0) | 6.7 (5.5 to 7.9) | −0.1 (−1.8 to 1.7) |
| Consult with medical provider | 21.5 (19.6 to 23.4) | 22.0 (19.8 to 24.2) | 0.5 (−2.4 to 3.4) |
| Avoid other people | 87.9 (86.4 to 89.4) | 88.7 (87.0 to 90.4) | 0.8 (−1.5 to 3.1) |
| Perceptions of COVID-19 severity† | |||
| Agree that COVID-19 is more contagious than flu | 86.6 (85.0 to 88.2) | 88.0 (86.2 to 89.7) | 1.4 (−1.0 to 3.7) |
| Agree that COVID-19 is more deadly than flu | 85.7 (84.1 to 87.4) | 86.4 (84.5 to 88.3) | 0.6 (−1.9 to 3.1) |
| Agree that all should take COVID-19 precautions | 97.2 (96.4 to 98.1) | 98.4 (97.8 to 99.1) | 1.2 (0.1 to 2.3) |
| Vaccine uptake | |||
| Would get a COVID-19 vaccine if available‡ | 63.3 (61.1 to 65.5) | 62.7 (60.1 to 65.3) | −0.7 (−4.1 to 2.8) |
TM, traditional Medicare; MA, Medicare Advantage; IPTW, inverse probability of treatment weighting; COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019
*To account for differences in characteristics between TM and MA enrollees attributable to selection bias, we computed the IPTW as a propensity for enrolling in MA based on enrollee demographic, socioeconomic, and health status variables as well as the primary source of COVID-19 information and the date of interview. Next, we estimated the mean adjusted values of the outcomes for TM and MA enrollees. We examined the difference in these adjusted mean outcomes among MA enrollees relative to TM enrollees
‡Beneficiaries were asked to rate the following statements using a 5-point scale: “Coronavirus is more contagious than the flu,” “Coronavirus is more deadly than the flu,” and “it is important for everyone to take precautions to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus, even if they are not in a high-risk group.” We categorized into two levels: agreed (strongly agree or agree) or not (neither agree nor disagree, disagree, or strongly disagree)
‡Beneficiaries were asked to rate their answers on a 5-point scale, which we categorized into two levels: yes (definitely or probably) or no (not sure, probably not, or definitely not)